


Unsteady

by Cakesandwaffles



Series: Unsteady main story and alternate endings [1]
Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Memory Loss, Recovered Memories, very angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:20:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22551658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cakesandwaffles/pseuds/Cakesandwaffles
Summary: CT-113 was reconditioned, and married off to a lady named Maripri. When he recovers his memories, she’s pregnant.
Relationships: Corin the Stormtrooper (Rescue and Regret)/Original Female Character(s), Corin the Stormtrooper (Rescue and Regret)/The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)
Series: Unsteady main story and alternate endings [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1623595
Comments: 6
Kudos: 41





	Unsteady

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LadyIrina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyIrina/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Family and Home](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21758992) by [LadyIrina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyIrina/pseuds/LadyIrina). 



> Trigger warning for dying in birth and infant mortality, also cuts from broken glass

The last words Corin heard struck fear into his heart. Little tears formed in his eyes.

“Send him to be reconditioned.” With that statement, Corin knew his life was over. He wouldn’t remember the last few years of his life, he’d be torn from his husband and child. He’d be under their control again. As he was forced into the chair, Corin prayed that Din would rescue him. Just as Corin was being blinded, he spoke. 

“Ni kar’tayl gar darasuum, Din Djarin.” Then everything went black as the tears fell.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

CT-113 opened his eyes only to shut them again. The room was too bright and sterile for his eyes to take in at once. Slowly blinking his eyes open, CT-113 scanned his surroundings. White walls and bright lights greeted him first, then voices. A man in a white coat leaned over him, with a clipboard in his hands. 

“Can you hear me trooper? State your name, number, and rank.” The man moved his pen over the clipboard. CT-113 blinked twice before he opened his mouth.

“M...my name...is...Corin? CT-113. Snow trooper.” The first words fell uncertainly from his lips. His mind was reeling with questions he knew not to ask. A storm trooper doesn’t ask questions. The doctor tilted his head.

“Do you know your last name?” The pen was once again poised to write something down. Corin slowly sat up before answering.

“It’s...Valentis, right?” The words pulled a smile from the doctor, and CT-113 felt very uneasy. Almost as if that wasn’t the right answer. The doctor clicked his pen once, twice, three times before speaking again.

“Alright, you must be wondering why you’re here,” Corin nodded gently. “You were on a mission and a rebel got a lucky hit on you. Knocked you out. Do you have any memories of that?” Corin thought for a moment, then shook his head ‘no’. The doctor hummed before continuing.

“Figures. You have amnesia. Whether it’s temporary or not is to be seen.” Corin nodded. The doctor flipped a page on his clipboard, and frowned. He looked Corin in the eyes.

“That means you don’t know about the new initiative. Every available trooper is to marry, and provide children to raise in the image of the empire.” Corin felt all the blood leave his face. Married? He didn’t want to get married, let alone to a stranger. However, he couldn’t voice that. Corin nodded and swung his feet off the bed he was laying on. The doctor set the clipboard down, and left Corin alone to stew in his thoughts.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

The wedding was a small, insignificant event. It was only Corin, the priest, and his new bride. After they signed the paperwork, they were ushered to their new living quarters on a tiny, backwater planet. 

“Well, it’s not much, but it will do. Right, dear?” Corin’s new wife looked at him with a gentle smile on her face. Her long dark brown hair framed her face and highlighted her bright green eyes. Freckles stood out against pale skin, highlighting her cheekbones. Corin returned a smile of his own, though it was less certain than hers.

“We’ll make it work. After all, we’ve made it this long.” She chuckled at Corin’s comment. Gently, she held Corin’s hand and led him inside the building.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Honey! We need to go to the market! We need more supplies for the baby!” Maripri called as she waddled from the nursery, right hand supporting the small of her back, left hand on the top of her swollen belly. Bare feet padded on the wooden floor as Corin rushed over to help her walk into the living room.

“Are you sure you should come? The doctor said you should take it easy.” Corin helped Maripri sit down into the nearest chair. She scoffed at Corin’s concern.

“I know my body, and my body is telling me to get out of the house and get more supplies 

for the baby. Can you hand me my boots? I wanna get a head start on Macisara. You know she’ll take all the good stuff.” Corin chuckled as he helped his wife with her shoes. 

“You and her got into an argument  _ one _ time, now it’s like your purpose in life is to beat her at everything.” Maripri slowly stood with Corin’s help, and started to pull her light jacket on. 

“She insulted you, what was I supposed to do? Let her? I don’t think so,” She turned and put her hand on Corin’s cheek. “You, are the sweetest, gentlest, and most caring man I have ever met. I love you with every fiber of my being, and I won’t stand by and let someone tell you any differently.” Corin rested his forehead on top of hers, and smiled.

“How were we paired together?” Maripri chuckled and pulled back from the gentle embrace.

“Pure luck, I think.” Corin smiled, but couldn’t help but feel like something was digging at the back of his memory. Shaking his head, he helped Maripri leave the house.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Corin cursed under his breath, how could someone so pregnant, move so fast? He looked away for one second and his wife was gone the next. Corin cursed his bad luck. In mid-search for his wife, Corin paused. The feeling from earlier came back full force, demanding that he turn around. Ever so slowly, Corin pivots on his foot and makes, what Corin assumes is, eye contact with a Mandalorian holding a small, green child. 

Pain filled his head as memories came flooding back all at once. His childhood, his mother, her death, his training, the fall of the empire, the snow planet, the child, and the mandalorian. No, that wasn’t his name. Din Djarin. Corin’s husband. His whole life, standing 20 feet away from him, staring. Corin moved his foot to embrace his husband. Something held him back though.

“There you are, dear! I looked behind me and you weren’t there! I have all the things I wanted to get. We can go back home now, I want a nap.” Corin looked at Maripri and blinked. He nodded then turned his head back to where Din was standing, only to see that he wasn’t there anymore.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Corin sat on the rocking chair that was set on the porch, pondering his situation over a cup of hot chocolate. His husband was on the planet. He wanted to run to him and leave this place behind. But he couldn’t. He had a pregnant wife to take care of. She doesn’t have a job, and if Corin left her, who knows what would happen to his child.

This pondering continued on for the next standard week, from sunup to sun down. Sometimes, Corin spent his time talking and laughing with his neighbor, trying to take his mind off of things. Corin wandered back into the house only to flinch when he heard a loud clatter. Kicking his shoes off, Corin ran into the kitchen worried about what he would find. Corin paused at the threshold of the kitchen, unsure of how to react. Maripri was sitting on the floor, a plate shattered in front of her, tears streaming down her face, and blood dripping from her palm.

“Maripri, what happened?” Corin slowly creeped closer, mindful of the plate. Maripri’s head snapped up as she yelled.

“If you were here instead of prancing around with the neighbors, you would know!” She looked away from Corin’s face and pulled her injured hand towards herself.

“I know I’m not attractive right now, but do you really have to make it known by sleeping with him?” The tears started to fall in bigger drops as she examined her hand. Corin stepped over the glass and crouched down next to her, pulling her hand away from her chest to get a good look at it. 

“I’m not sleeping with the neighbor. I’ve just got a lot of things on my mind.” Maripri ripped herself away from him, face showing her anger.

“That’s it? I’m on bed rest, and you’re running around, not helping me!” Moving with a speed she shouldn’t have, Maripri attempted to run from the kitchen, only to step on a shard of glass and fall. Corin scrambled to help her, but couldn’t do much as she was too distraught. Suddenly, she looked Corin in the eyes, and he knew, from her panic stricken expression, that the baby was coming.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Corin couldn’t gather his thoughts as he paced outside the operating room. The baby was 1 ½ months early. This was bad luck in action. Very, very bad luck. Out of the corner of his eye, Corin saw shining beskar. Whipping around, Corin didn’t see anyone.

“Mr. Valentis?” A balding man walked out of the room. Corin turned to face him, and took in his somber face. Corin only nodded.

“I’m sorry, but your wife, she didn’t make it. And your daughter has severely underdeveloped lungs. It’s not likely that she’ll live through the night.” Corin fell to his knees in shock. He had a daughter. He was widowed, married, had a missing kid, and a dying kid. Luck was not on his side. Tears slid down his face despite him trying to keep composure.

“Just...just save my little girl. I don’t care about the cost.” The doctor nodded and re-entered the room, leaving Corin alone to cry.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Corin named his daughter Jema in a moment of calm silence. He figured that if she was given a Mandalorian name, that she would pull through and survive. His hopes were starting to go up after a standard week of Jema still being alive every morning. 

Everytime Corin had his back turned when talking to the doctors, he saw a flash of shiny silver from the corner of his eye. But whenever he turned to look, no one was there. 

The morning of the eighth day is when all hell broke loose. Doctors rushed into the room where Jema was sleeping, waking Corin in the process. The door was left open. With footsteps as light as a feather, Corin managed to get into the room. He wished he didn’t enter. Jema was turning blue despite the doctors best efforts. Stumbling out of the room, Corin’s back hit something hard before he slid to the floor. 

Looking up, Corin came face to face with a Mandalorian. No, not just a Mandalorian. His Mandalorian. Din picked Corin up and pulled him far from the room, rocking him while Corin cried out for his daughter. 

Thirty minutes passed with no word from the doctor, and Corin cried himself to sleep in Din’s arms. 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Waking up, Corin noticed he was the only one in the room. Din must have been a hallucination he had made up while hysterical. Standing up, Corin went to look out the window. The sun was setting, painting the sky in a brilliance of colors. The world was mourning a loss of life. Corin turned when he heard a voice clearing behind him. The doctor had a grim look on his face.

Corin felt like his ears were full of water. He was widowed, married, had a missing kid, and a dead kid. 

Looking back out the window, Corin now understood why the world was in mourning. Excusing himself from the doctor, Corin started to wander, letting his feet guide him. 

A gust of fresh air hit Corin as he barely realized he was on the roof of the hospital. Walking to the edge, Corin let the breeze caress his face. He stood on the ledge and looked out. The town was beautiful at this time of day. He just wished that Jema could have seen it. Turning around to face the roof access door, Corin closed his eyes, and let out a deep breath.

**Author's Note:**

> In case it wasn’t clear, Din was really there, not a hallucination


End file.
